is poverty a simple state of mind?

er...

no!

Lots of people on the web might tell you otherwise. That its a matter of one "manifesting" their way to better love/sex, health and preposterous riches. Which is all perfectly reasonable on the surface of course. That's "basic" "Law of Attraction" stuff where we get to play "god" of our own "Creative Destiny". You think about what you want, wish for it, pray for it, and then "align your emotional state" with the outcome and voilá! You "should" be technically much happier and wealthier and have better relationships!

(Oh but I am ever the closet cynic on this stuff *smirk* I play around with these concepts but at my core, I find them slightly "off" as in not sucking in enough Truth Serum really... it's all too self-centric and greedy sounding to me at my gut-level analysis of LOA - no matter WHO tells you that its supposed to be about 'Love for the Greater Good' and so on! Still, I do play around with it because well...that's what people - what I - love to do! Be self-centric etc!).

But okay... let's ask someone who is on "The Poverty Line" in the North world. By South World standards, the poor in the North are still incredibly wealthy, at least if they have a roof over their head and something productive to fill in time as a contribution to their membership in society and so forth. They don't HAVE to go picking rubbish tips for rags or scrape animal dung off roadsides to use for their fuel to cook a basic meal. They get regular assistance from most government agencies - well, for the most part they do, even if its dismal, its still a darn-sight better than those who don't have a hope of accessing a welfare payment in the South World.

I'm probably, right now, technically classed as being on the Australian version of "The Poverty Line". Since my separation, my income has been erratic and LOW in comparison to where I used to be as a self-employed, married wife and mother of two! Life is getting exceedingly tough to keep ahead of the financial hurdles we all face at regular intervals in the pursuit of our lifestyles - even if they're really basic lifestyles within the context of ones culture.

Right now, I am scraping every bit of income to my bank balance as I can muster and TRYING to not let it slip right out again on frivolities such as my daughters up-coming Presentation Ball for her year at College! We were told by the school that we needn't spend a fortune, but constituting what is a fortune is relative when its a fortune you don't have in the first place! My credit card got a bouncing with this mandatory event and it is going to take a looongg time to recover from it. That same amount would have easily been paid off within the month last year! How time turns on a wheel yeah?

Did I ask for this?

NO!

I can will the "Universe" or God all I like to make me rich enough to squander money like I have on fancy clothes, gloves and shoes for my beautiful 16 year old daughter to be a princess for an evening, but it won't change the fact that I am low on cash right now!

Of course, I am optimistic that this situation can and will change in the foreseeable future. I have enough Faith in God to take him at his word that he'll take care of the details. It doesn't stop me stressing right now though, over what "surprises", financially speaking, are awaiting around the corner that I have not factored into my attempts to be "reasonable" about spending!

Poverty isn't a state of mind! It's a physical environmental and social THING you respond to as you would to cooking a meal, watching a sporting event on TV, Showering, putting on makeup, dressing up, dressing down, touching a friend, feeding a pet. It doesn't come upon you because of the way you have dreamed your manifested existence, it just comes upon you at certain phases in a lifetime, like seasons do.

Of course, I'm not suggesting one need stay in a state of poverty at all! It is however something that is real and acute and that you must DO something with - or not! It CAN be a prison and a cruel one at that and it is NOT necessarily anyone's fault they're in there! INNOCENT until proven guilty my friends! Poverty can be a bit like sackcloth and ashes for some people too - they simply LOVE the kudos they feel it brings to be down and dirty and flat broke! *shrug* More power to them if that's what they like!

I suspect though that for many in the North of the world, where affluenza is a disease of chronic and unassailable proportions, our notions of poverty are rather skewed. We think we can either sweep it into the "too hard" basket and ignore it or we believe that somehow its such a sinful creation of the human condition that it must be willed away by magical thinking and that thinking rich instead will solve the problem overall for everyone (but mostly 'myself' et al).

Poverty and wealth are things we use to make a life. They are tools from the same human tool box. Both can be used in any given situation. Thing is...we don't always get to choose which tool we use - they get handed to us by someone else and the lesson then is "So how would you do that with this tool then?"

I have not asked to be broke! I've not manifested this financial (and I might add, emotional and physical versions of currently perceived poverty) position because I'm aligning my vibrational energy with such notions! Oh man! What an idiot who thought that idea! ... I've just been handed the question as to how am I going to use this tool for this life, right here and now.

Life may not be a dress rehearsal, but it sure as hell is a damned tough school sometimes!